Get Started on a Buying Application

The Buy APIs let you create buying experiences outside of the eBay.com site. Users can search for, select, and purchase eBay items. Sellers can mirror and curate the contents of the items in an eBay category, provide marketing information to buyers to encourage conversion, and track their orders, all from within your own site. The following are the Buy APIs:

• Browse API: Search for and retrieve eBay items and use filters and parameters to create customized item sets. Search by image ID (a Base64 string) and check if a product is compatible with the specified item, such as if a specific car is compatible with a specific part or search for a compatible part. It also provides the ability for eBay members to add and remove items and change the quantity of an item in their eBay shopping cart as well as view the contents of their eBay cart.
• Deal API: Search for and retrieve details about eBay deals and events, as well as the items associated with those deals and events.
• Feed API: Download daily files containing newly listed items or weekly bootstrap files containing all the items in a category. Download an hourly file of items that have changed in a category during that hour.
• Marketing API: Retrieve products based on category and metric, such as best selling, and 'also viewed" and 'also bought' products based on a product.
• Marketplace Insights API: Retrieve the sales history of items sold on eBay. (This is a Limited Release.)
• Offer API: Place bids for a buyer on auction items and retrieve the bidding details for an auction where the buyer has placed a bid.
• Order API: Open a guest checkout session, update orders, apply a coupon to the order, retrieve order, payment status, and shipment details, and pay for the order. For eBay member checkouts, it also provides legacy IDs to enable you to use the Post Order API for returns and cancellations.

The Buy APIs listed above are intended for certain approved eBay partners based on their application. Acceptance of applications is based on the proposed business model, as well as a formal agreement to abide by the policies and requirements stipulated by eBay.

Complete these primary steps to request access to eBay’s Buy APIs:

• Step 1: Ensure you have an eBay Developer account
• Step 2: Ensure you meet the Buy API minimum requirements and agreements
• Step 3: Integrate with eBay APIs and test your application in Sandbox
• Step 4: Apply for an Application Growth Check to get access to Buy APIs in Production
• Step 5: Go live in the Production environment

Step 1: Ensure you have an eBay Developer account

You must have an eBay Developer account and be familiar with the material and complete developer account procedures in the Get Started with eBay APIs Guide.

Step 2: Ensure you meet the Buy API minimum requirements and agreements

Depending on your use case, your application must meet requirements defined by eBay. Buy API integrations can fall into one of the below categories:

• eBay Affiliate
• eBay member checkout (Order API)
• eBay guest checkouts (APIs and “Checkout with eBay” widget)
• Access to Offer API

eBay Affiliate

eBay Affiliate and eBay guest checkouts (Checkout with eBay) need to be a member of the eBay Partner Network.

eBay guest checkout (APIs and “Checkout with eBay” widget)

Both eBay Affiliate and eBay guest checkouts (Checkout with eBay) need to be a member of the eBay Partner Network.

If your business model is approved by eBay Partner Network, you will be informed on the next steps. Please take a look at the minimum production eligibility requirements for guest checkout for more details.

eBay member checkout (Order API)

To obtain eBay member checkout access, your business use case should be approved by eBay. This approval will give you access for member checkout in both the Sandbox and Production API environments. Member checkout requires you to be an eBay member.

Complete these steps to request Production access. Within this process, you will:

• Align with the Business Unit on the Partnership and the integration model.
• Present your use case and the APIs you would like to use.
• Be approved to use the member checkout use case by eBay.
• Partners should have a domestic company and warehouse located in the eBay marketplace they want to buy from.

Please take a look at the minimum production eligibility requirements for more details. This includes the eBay User Agreement, Privacy Policy and API License Agreement.

Access to Offer API

Offer API allows you to place bids on auction listings as an eBay member. To obtain access to this API in Production, your business use case should be approved by eBay.

Complete these steps to request Production access. Within this process, you will:

• File a support ticket via your developer account with your use case and the APIs you would like to use. Make sure to include all relevant information about your application like the eBay marketplaces and the user base.
• You will be asked to present the end to end flow of your application in Sandbox.
• On approval, you will be granted access to Offer API in Production.

Step 3: Integrate with eBay APIs and test your application in Sandbox

At this point in the process, you should be able to integrate and test your application within the Sandbox environment with the exception of the methods for accessing member checkout APIs. However, there is an additional process required to use the checkout APIs in Sandbox. Please refer to the Production access process for more details.

Step 4: Apply for an Application Growth Check to get access to Buy APIs in Production

The Application Growth Check is a mandatory step for using restricted Buy APIs in Production. This is done by the eBay team as a final step before granting Production access to the partner’s production keyset to access Buy APIs. For more information, please refer to the Application Growth Check process.

Step 5: Go live in the Production environment

You can go live with your application once all approvals and contracts are in place.